James Hunt : The anti-hero of F1

The former Formula One pilot James Hunt’s life was pleasure-loving and reckless and his history, particularly his friendship-rivalry with Niki Lauda have remained engraved on our memory. The history and life of the english pilot, who died of a heart attack on June 15th 1993 at the age of 45, are therefore back in the spotlight, although already told in the film Rush ,by Ron Howard(2013).The director succeeded in praising some peculiarities of his character and showed us a fairly realistic vision of James Hunt’s public personality, among daring ventures on racetrack and an openly nonconformist behaviour and a latin lover attitude, too. Nicknamed Hunt the Stunt, meaning a smashing man, the British was able to thrill the fans of Formula One with performances beyond all limits, but also he captured the interest of magazines with his loving affairs and nonconformist provocations(you could often see him arrive at the paddock wearing jeans and barefoot , with very beautiful women). He had such a bad boy life, among parties, drugs, alcohol and other bad habits that ,after conquering the World Championship in 1976, ended up in taking his attention off the competitions and after some unsatisfactory seasons, he retired from the races.

Anyway, before world champion title in 1976 satisfied his hunger for victory and the fame and glory took his mind off his undertakings on the track leading him to a descending parable( as Enzo Ferrari in person well explained in his book Pilots, what people!),James Hunt was, for sure, one of the best Formula One drivers of those years. His driving style, reckless and to the limit brought him to great victories but above all to performances and races that are well engraved on the memory of Formula One fans. He started driving at tender age and got involved in motorsport having competition with Mini then with minor Formulas and then Formula 3 and Formula 2, where his talent exploded. In 1973 Hunt made his debut with Formula One, but it’s in the following season that he really highlighted with Hesketh Racing, a racing team which gave him three podiums but went bankrupt at the end of that year ,leaving him unemployed. In 1976 Fittipaldi offered him a seat in McLaren:with that car Hunt won, in come back and with just a point’s lead over Niki Lauda,(who interrupted the season for the serious accident happened in Germany, from which he came out disfigured ) the Formula One world championship ,in the drivers ranking. Season 1976, that seemed to be in Lauda’s hands, saw the triumph in extremis of the english driver over the german driver.Hunt ran several risks in order to conquer the laurel, his performance at the GP in Japan under a heavy rain was unforgettable. (Lauda, just returned to the circus in record time, gave up on the second lap of the track, because of the dangerous conditions). It was just that year ,the most meaningful for the london driver ’s career, but also the most passionate for the rivalry between Hunt and Lauda.Such rivalry was merely competitive, because far from the races the two men were friends and held themselves in great esteem and respect, despite the differences in character and temperament. After 1976, a descending period started in his career: he had some seasons with McLaren and Wolf but without any particular results he decided to retire from the racing war. Even his farewell was emphatic. In 1979,Hunt announced his goodbye at the end of the season ,but he anticipated the announcement at the end of the GP in Montecarlo. “I leave now and forever because in the world of Formula One , man doesn’t mean anything anymore” . these were the words that stirred up a hornet’s nest. After leaving Formula One,Hunt had been dealing with live television coverage of GP for several years, arousing sometimes violent controversies with colleagues and former drivers. In 1993 he died of a heart attack when he was just 45 years old, after having spent an entire life to the limit ,on and off the track.